The battle had a profound impact on Michael. For one, he had learned the extent of his powers. He had also fought ascendants and proved his indomitable warrior's dao. As long as he kept fighting battles and remained true to his nature, his dao would keep getting stronger. This was the very essence of dao path. Dao was a way of life, a foundational belief. Fighting against the odds had increased the power of his dao, though not by a huge amount.

Michael entered seclusion to heal his wounds from the battle. Even though he had healed his body and soul through his laws, it was only the visible ones that had been healed. Several minor wounds along with fatigue still remained in his body and soul. The only way to recover from these was to rest for a period of time. Besides, his right hand had extremely serious injuries. While such minute injuries were not noticeable during battles, they would pile up and become a barrier preventing one from reaching their potential. Michael was careful enough to not allow that to happen.

A few days later, Michael healed his injuries and came out of seclusion. As soon as he emerged, he was called to Gordon's room. Michael did not know what this conversation would entail but he still went ahead to meet the master of the house. His intuition did give him a premonition that the meeting would not be pleasant.

As soon as he entered Gordon's room, his eyes fell on a familiar figure - Sheryl. It was just that the aura coming off was so unfamiliar that Michael froze in shock.

Gordon : You sensitivity is indeed extremely well honed. For you to sense changes in her, you are not bad kid!

Michael : What is the meaning of this? What happened to Sheryl?

Sheryl or the one who looked like Sheryl seemed to have a trace of annoyance in her eyes as she said:

She is dead. The Sheryl that you know is no more!

Michael would not have believed his own assumption had his intuition not been screaming at him that the girl in front of him was completely different from the Sheryl he knew! His perception could not find any differences from the old Sheryl except that the girl was definitely much stronger. He felt as if his entire world was spinning! How could his student be dead? It did not make sense! He had protected her successfully.

Michael : What nonsense! How come I did not notice anything wrong? Leader Gordon, please tell me what is happening here.

Gordon : Michael, she is telling the truth. The old Sheryl is indeed dead. Or in a sense, her personality is.

Michael did not want to believe Gordon's words. How could she die?

She was the most innocent life he had seen in his two lifetimes! Michael had fought with his life on the line to protect her! How could she suddenly be dead? And how could her body and soul be taken by someone else? What was Gordon trying to achieve here?

Michael was confused. But most of all, he felt a pang of grief in his heart. Even though his conscient had not reasoned through the situation, his intuition had already guessed that something bad had indeed happened. It was as if someone was scratching his heart and digging it out. Michael was someone who never shirked away from pain. But the pain that he was feeling now nearly drowned him. Chocking on his words, he said:

Michael : Leader Gordon, you must give me a proper explanation. Or else, I swear on my name - one day, I shall burn the entire Marx family to cinders!

While his words were laughable, both Gordon and Sheryl felt an indescribable chill in their hearts. It was as if the person in front of them was not giving them a threat but a prophecy! It was not a subjective intent but the truth - eternal and undeniable. Sheryl's expression warped in rage but before she could say anything, she felt Gordon's pressure landing on her robbing her of her breath. Gordon seriously replied:

Michael, I am about to tell you the history of our family. This is related to what has happened to Sheryl. It will help you understand the situation here.

Michael's eyes were red with grief and anger but he still contained his actions with great willpower. He did not say anything.

Gordon : As you know, our ancestors were slaves to the demons. We were simply dogs raised by the demons to fight and kill their enemies. But the ancestors of the three leading families secretly rebelled. They killed their masters and tried to escape. His excellency, Black Lotus Divinity lent us a helping hand and so our ancestors could escape. But the path was not easy and many of our ancestors died while escaping. There were many leaders involved in organising the rebellion but only three of them escaped and survived - The ancestors of Marx, Black and Tang family. This is known by many people. But what they don't know is that the demons had retaliated later. How could they allow for such a huge disgrace to stand? Their master - Red Calamity Divinity used the blood of three ancestors and cursed us! It was a vicious bloodline curse that killed all the children born in the three families within 3 months of conceiving. There was actually no way to get rid of the curse except killing Red Calamity Divinity. But such a thing was impossible even for His Excellency - Black Lotus Divinity. The three leaders were heartbroken as they saw their descendants die in front of their own eyes. They took in several wives and concubines with powerful bloodlines hoping for a miracle that the child would not inherit their bloodline. But no method worked and all their children died as infants. But before the three lost all hope, His excellancy came up with a new method to survive the curse. It required mating with the Blood Race. The blood race, as you know, is a race that thrives on blood based cultivation methods and so, they have the ability to suppress bloodline curses to a certain extent. Of course, this was the curse of a divine being. So, Black Lotus Divinity worked with the Primordial Blood Matriarch to create a technique that suppressed the curse and even benefitted the descendants of the three families. While this method only worked one-third of the time, at least it allowed the three families to continue their bloodline. But there are severe side-effects of the method. It impacts the conscient of the children and as a result, their personality drastically changes. While they retain their memories, their feelings and thoughts, aspirations and desires all change drastically. It is not wrong to say that their old personality dies and a new personality takes over. All the members of big three families have been inflicted by this curse and so we have kept this an internal secret. After all, the blood race is not seen favourably by the humans and as we have half the bloodline of blood race in our veins, if this secret was revealed, we would face repurcussions from all powers. Even His Excellency Black Lotus Divinity would lose trust among the human race. Also, if someone managed to mutate the bloodline curse, the three families would be over. You can understand why it is a closely guarded secret. During the battle, the pressure caused her bloodline curse to burst forth and she awakened. As a result, the old Sheryl that you know is dead in essence.

Michael did not speak for a long time after listening to Gordon's story. He was processing what Gordon had told him. Most likely, he was speaking the truth. Michael felt helpless. He was angry - but he did not know who to be angry at! He was sad and in grief - but he did not know why! After a long time, Michael said:

Is there no way to bring the old Sheryl back?

Gordon : If there is a way, the divinities don't know of it.

Michael : What about changing the flow of time?

Gordon : Haha! Don't think too much. Divine ones can change the time flow - but in very specific circumstances. And the restrictions are so huge that it is almost impossible. No one knows where the peak of cultivation lies. You could perhaps one day reach a level where space and time would be yours to command. But before you reach such a level, it is impossible to bring her back. In the past two decades, both I and Sheryl's mother did not really give our time to Sheryl. It was not only because we were busy. But also because we did not want to experience the death of our child again. Even though Sheryl successfully awakened, in all senses, the old Sheryl is dead. Her life was short and tragic. I can only thank you that you made her life more joyful. Here is a letter that she left for you. Take it, as this is the last time she will say something to you.

Michael took the letter and left without turning back. He seemed to have aged an entire decade and his lonely figure walking out of the gates of the Marx mansion was extremely bleak. Gordon looked at Michael's back with a sense of loss while Sheryl was looking at him with complicated emotions.

Months and years passed. Michael stopped teaching. All-day, he would drink and ponder. In the first few days, Michael was angry and frustrated. But he did not release his emotions. He bottled them up. All the anger and grief became the fuel for his willpower to grow further. After a period of time, he came to terms with reality. Then, he began to ponder about the deeper meaning of life, his own experiences and the path that he was taking. He also kept thinking about his dao and his beliefs. The more he pondered, the more he felt as if he obtained clarity in life.

It was a valuable exercise and it helped his personality grow and mature even more. Environment and experiences shaped one's personality and nature and in this way, their dao. The lives of cultivators were long. After a long life, many of the cultivators lost their drive. They would retire with mortals, enjoy life and slowly wither away in death. Or they would either fight in wars and welcome death for the sake of protecting future generations. Maintaining one's drive and motivation to cultivate after experiencing a long life was not easy. Without sufficient willpower, one would even end up committing suicide. Michael had tremendous willpower and grand ambitions. In fact, he felt that his ambitions were only blooming now. Something like the death of a loved one was not enough to shake his resolve.

This was not to say that he did not grieve. He did. He remembered Sheryl many times. And he welcomed all the pain that her death brought. He experienced everything and it refined his will even more. If he did not have enough drive to go through hardships in life, what right did he have to chase immortality? The greatest barrier in one's path to immortality was not the difficulties in cultivation but lacking willpower. Without an eternal will, how could one have eternal life?

Michael's ponderings helped him realize a few things he had not realized before. The world that he was born in allowed lifeforms living in it to become stronger by cultivating. He too wanted to cultivate. Initially, it had been about saving his plane. But as time went past, he truly wanted to become stronger - for the sake of the safety of his loved ones, and most importantly for his own sake. Sheryl's episode had shaken him to the core. He had read Sheryl's letter countless times.

Michael, ... this time I will call you only Michael and not Teacher. You have known for a while, I am in love with you. I am sorry, but I fell for you. And while you have given me so much joy, care and time, I can't repay you. I am the princess of the Marx family but at the same time, I am not. I am nothing but a shell. For I will die sooner or later, leaving my everything for the true inheritor. This is related to an ancient bloodline curse in my family. I have known it for a long time and I had already made my peace with it. But then, you came along and I felt like life was truly worth living. My dead heart started beating again and with your grace, I had all the joys that I wanted. As much as I want to change my fate, it is impossible. Thus, I lived every day with all the joy I could. I have been selfish and I never told you about this. I know that you want something from me, something that perhaps my father would be able to do. I don't know if he will actually listen to me but I am also leaving a letter to him asking him to grant your wish. This is the only favour I have ever asked him so there is a chance that he will agree too. This is all I can do for you. I am sad and happy, confused and conflicted, writing this letter. I don't want to die for I will be separated from you. But I don't want to live for long for then, I will become an obstacle in your way. Ultimately, I will be left alone. I know that you have your own ambitions and desires. And I know that it is impossible for you to give up on them, for me or anyone else. I hope you fulfil them and achieve all that you want. I just wish that after I am no longer around, you still keep me in your heart.

Tearstains marked the old piece of paper. Michael folded the piece of paper and kept it in his space ring.

Silly girl, I am an indomitable cultivator. Since when am I reliant on you to deal with my problems?

Tears flowed out of Michael's eyes. He swore - these were the final tears that he would shed. In the world that he lived, magic was possible. Entire worlds could be destroyed and the flow of time itself could be changed. In such a miraculous world everything was possible! As Michael grew out of the experience, his already vast willpower had been tampered to reach a whole new level. If any divinity was to sense Michael's willpower, they would be shocked to their core. This was because his willpower outstripped most divinities. It was his will to reach the top, to have the world in his palms, to be the emperor of heaven and earth and the autarch of time and space! As long as he had the will, he would eventually find the way.